Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg Institut für Kulturwissenschaften Ost- und Südasiens - Sinologie Master Thesis in Chinese Studies (Heritage and Innovation) Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Roland Altenburger Date of Submission: September 2020 Aspects of Gender in The Unofficial History of the Scholars Name: Dong Wu Address: Am Galgenberg 52D, 04-09-03, Würzburg, 97074, Germany Matrikel-Nr: 2369073 E-mail:
[email protected] Acknowledgments It is not easy to have a chance to speak to the world. Fortunately, I get it right now. I have been studying at the Department of Sinology at the University of Würzburg since 2018, and I will graduate soon. Here I would like to give my deepest thanks to my teachers in the Department of Sinology. They offer the best education on Chinese studies in the world, and they helped me grow enormously. Prof. Dr. Roland Altenburger built up my academic skills. Before I came to the Department of Sinology, I knew nothing about researching Chinese literature although I am Chinese, and a big fan of Honglou meng 红楼梦 (The Red Chamber Dream). With Prof. Dr. Roland Altenburger’s instruction, I have finished 130 pages of academic papers on Chinese classical narratives including this master thesis, and they all got excellent or good grades. It is noteworthy that I had not written a single English academic paper before I came here. Isn’t it magical? It is all owing to Prof. Dr. Roland Altenburger’s remarkable instruction. Prof. Dr. Roland Altenburger’s courses on Sinological Methods, Rulin waishi 儒林外史 (The Unofficial History of the Scholars), gender history, and Tang Tales, built up my research skills step by step.